Elvis Andrus, SS TEX Andrus went 0-for-5 Saturday against Toronto and is 17-for-95 (.179) with a 17.4 percent strikeout rate over his last 24 games. Andrus' flyball rate is down this season, which is a positive for a player with no power, but he's hitting just .073 (3-for-41) on flyballs this year compared to .208 on flyballs in 2012. He also has lined out 19 times on 46 line drives this season, a .587 average. You have to figure he'll start finding some more real estate eventually.
Colby Rasmus, OF TOR Rasmus' strikeout rate has increased from 23.8 percent in 2012 to 32.1 percent this season, but so has his batting average, from .223 to .250. The major difference has been his BABIP, which has risen to .259 to .336 even though his line-drive rate is identical to last year. Rasmus has been extremely lucky on groundballs, going 17-for-47 (.361) on them compared to 32-for-155 (.206) last season. That won't continue. While the outfielder has nice power (12 HR, 17.4% HR/FB), he's just not a .250 hitter or anything close to it.
Adam Dunn, DH CHW Dunn homered for the fifth time in his last six games Saturday against the Astros, giving him 18 on the year. Dunn's still hitting just .182, but that has come with a .177 BABIP. The DH's line-drive rate is a subpar 16.9 percent, but he has a 49 percent flyball rate and a 25.7 percent flyball rate. Where Dunn has struggled this season is on groundballs - he has just four hits on 48 grounders this year, a .085 average. Fantasy owners can count on him finding more holes as the season goes on. In the meantime, at least his power is still there unlike 2011, when he hit .159 with 11 homers.
Trevor Plouffe, 3B MIN Plouffe returned from the DL Saturday for his first game since May 21 and went 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBI. The third baseman initially was placed on the 7-day DL with a concussion, but when he was ready to come back from that he suffered a strained left calf. Plouffe's batted ball distribution, which includes a 29.7 percent line-drive rate, suggests he should have a much higher batting average than .270. Even with that type of line-drive output, the third baseman has a .299 BABIP.
Jon Lester, LHP BOS Lester was 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA after his first nine starts this season, but he has gone 0-3 with a 6.90 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP over his last five. Seeing a fluctuation in BABIP after getting a .246 BABIP in his first nine starts is one thing, but Lester has walked 5.4 batters per nine innings and allowed 1.8 HR/9 over his last 30 innings. Lester's swing-and-miss rate is at a career-low 7.1 percent, and he has a 90 percent contact rate on pitches in the strike zone for the second straight season. If Lester doesn't get things turned around Sunday against the Orioles, a team he has gone 14-1 with a 2.63 ERA against in 21 career starts, it's time to panic.
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